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Fantasy Baseball: 2008 XBH Leaders

With a little downtime before the Hot Stove picks up again, it's time to take a look at the 2008 NL Extra-Base Hit Leaders. The XBH leaders can sometimes give you an idea on who may surprise in the power categories in next year's drafts.

I created a table of the top 35-40 XBH leaders in 2008 and compared their 2008 numbers to 2007. Take a look:

2008 2007
Player XBH XBH DIFF
Braun, Ryan J. 3B MIL 83 66 17
Pujols, Albert 1B STL 81 71 10
Ludwick, Ryan OF STL 80 36 44
Berkman, Lance 1B HOU 79 60 19
McLouth, Nate CF PIT 76 37 39
Drew, Stephen SS ARI 76 44 32
Ramirez, Manny LF LA 74 54 20
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM 72 60 12
Ramirez, Hanley SS FL 71 83 (12)
Cantu, Jorge 1B FLA 70 10 60
Uggla, Dan 2B FLA 70 83 (13)
Burrell, Pat LF PHI 69 56 13
Gonzalez, Adrian 1B SD 69 79 (10)
McCann, Brian C ATL 66 56 10
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL 66 87 (21)
Holliday, Matt LF COL 65 92 (27)
Ethier, Andre LF LA 63 47 16
Kemp, Matt CF LA 61 27 34
Glaus, Troy 3B STL 61 40 21
Jacobs, Mike 1B FLA 61 46 15
Soto, Geovany C CHC 60 9 51
Votto, Joey 1B CIN 59 11 48
Reynolds, Mark 3B ARI 59 41 18
Rollins, Jimmy SS PHI 58 88 (30)

I have highlited in bold some of the hitters with the biggest increases /decreases in XBHs in 2008. Some of the hitters with the biggest increases in XBHs can be explained with more playing time in 2008 vs 2007, such as Jorge Cantu, Geovany Soto and Ryan Ludwick. But guys like Stephen Drew and Matt Kemp may experience a surge in their power numbers in 2009.

On the other extreme, you have guys like Jimmy Rollins, Prince Fielder and Matt Holliday who experienced severe drops in their XBHs in 2008. Rollins power numbers may have peaked in 2007, but Fielder and Holliday's dropoffs are tougher to explain. Both are still young and should hit for more power in 2009. Then again, is it a coincidence that both are on the trade block this offseason??

Can Fielder and Holliday improve their power numbers in 2009?